Archive for November 2010

﻿“Human activities are profoundly affecting the world climate, and mountains are sensitive indicators of that effect. Mountains are an important source of water, energy, biological diversity and areas of recreation and are a major ecosystem representing the complex and interrelated ecology of our planet and are essential for the survival of the global ecosystem” (Gosh & Kimothi, 2009).

Like this:

Climategate. Exactly one year ago, on November 17, 2009, email messages and other computer files were illegally stolen from computers located at the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit (CRU). These emails and files were then leaked to the Internet in a blatant attempt to derail international climate talks at the COP-15 Copenhagen Climate Conference. Two crimes were committed that day: 1) Emails were stolen and 2) Scientists were wrongly put on trial in the press and the blogosphere.

These emails were spun by skeptics of man-made global warming as somehow proving that global warming is a hoax and that scientists were controlling what science gets published. Climategate was billed as the final nail in the coffin of anthropogenic [manmade] global warming (AGW). What has happened in the year following Climategate?

CO2 is still increasing

Climate is still warming

Ice is still melting

Severe weather increased

No journal articles have been published overturning AGW but there have been many supporting AGW

The accused scientists have been exonerated by many different investigations

The American Geophysical Union plans to announce that 700 researchers have agreed to speak out on the issue. Other scientists plan a pushback against congressional conservatives who have vowed to kill regulations on greenhouse gas emissions.

John Abraham should be congratulated for organizing the Climate Rapid Response Team (CRRT) composed of more than 36 top scientists who have volunteered to speak to the media about climate-related issues, including correcting the misinformation from those that deny the science. The goal of the CRRT is to provide highly accurate information to people when questions arise about the science. These scientists are some of the Who’s Who of climate science and they should be applauded for taking on this extra work without compensation. They understand the importance of communicating the science so they are “walking the walk”. Kudos to all. The CRRT is a separate group from the AGU’s Climate Science Q&A Service that Neela describes in the story.

Neela also mentions a project John Cook (of Skeptical Science) and I, along with many others, are working on. A handbook titled The Scientific Guide to Global Warming Skepticism is to be sent to school teachers across the US, Australia, and hopefully many other countries. The handbook is close to being finished and I wish to thank John Cook for all of the time that he has already put into this important project.